A Boy Named Max I
by Jutsu-King
Summary: Max has always wanted to go to Elysium. Battling his fate, trying to battle a fate that has stranded him on a dying planet. Despite all his efforts, it seems no matter what he does, he can't seem to shake away the turmoil of living on Earth and all the hassles that come with it.
1. Chapter 1

There is no such thing as race. Not for me there's not. There are only two major distinctions that separates us human beings, and that's the haves and have nots. The upper worlders vs. the lower worlders like me. It's basically Rich versus poor however you want to call it. It's always been this way; we just like to use terms like race, class and what not to dance around the fact.

I learned this lesson at a very young age when I lived in the orphanage. I saw so much suffering and I wondered why God would let that happen. Then it dawned on me that he had done something when he gave us free will. In turn we human beings created the mess we find ourselves in. Constant wars and battles have scarred the world beyond recognition. Most of our air is polluted beyond belief, and pretty much everyone living down here is battling with some ailment or the other. The rich seeing that the Earth cannot be salvaged devised a means to get off the planet and live 'peacefully' away from the masses and miscreants.

Their solution was to create their own colony in the stars. Elysium has it is called, is a floating satellite/Utopia/Metal piece of majesty above our world. I have never been there but I can only describe it from what others have told me. Though, considering I have never met anyone rich enough to reside up there, I wonder how accurate this information is.

Supposedly the smallest house on Elysium is as big as a full scale grocery store. Complete with lawns, yards, swimming pools and what have you. The richer you are, the more elaborate your abode is. It was supposedly designed by the greatest minds in technology, architecture and engineering. It amazes me how it stays afloat, drifting ever so close to the Earth but never losing its ability to swim through space. Many of the rich people in Elysium still have businesses on Earth, and once in a while have to make visits down here to check up on their 'assets'. It is probably why Elysium is stationed so close to us. What's the point of moving away if you can't drop in whenever you want?

Regardless, I have always dreamed of going up there. I remember Frey and I would sit on the fence, look up at Elysium in the distance and plot how we would get there. I swore to her that we'd go someday; unfortunately my desire to get us there pretty much destroyed our relationship. She was more grounded whilst I was the dreamer. She believed in living according to our means, I wanted to escape my social status so bad.

When I started straying, mixing with guys who I felt could get me what I wanted (which mostly boiled down to two one-way tickets to Elysium), Frey revolted. She who had stayed loyal to me for so long tried her best to get me on the straight and narrow path. She didn't want to go to Elysium, not at the cost of our souls. I was too stubborn to heed her calls, solely focused on finding ways to get off this smog infested world of ours. It wasn't until she moved away that it finally hit me. My single minded goal to escape Earth had pushed away the most important person in my life.

Unfortunately Frey leaving me simply pushed me down the spiral to disaster. Perhaps if she had stayed, there would have been some restrain on my path, but all that is in the past now. I fully take responsibility for my actions; every tattoo on this scarred body is a reminder of that. You make choices, you live with the results. Sure, I have met a ton of shitty people, but they never put a gun to my head…actually, I think I might have erred on that, there was that one time Julio did put a gun to my head…but I digress, that's a story for another day.

I was always a troublesome little lad, and as much as the nuns tried to get me to walk the straight path, I always ended up finding the unpaved route. There was always a knack to break rules, to circumvent the system and to find loopholes were others hadn't. In retrospect, I think that's what made Julio take a liking to me. We were similar in certain ways, but I like to think I still have some scruples in this thick skull of mine; his was probably ejected out his backside a long time ago.

It was this pig headed way of mine that led me to my first heist. I remember it like yesterday, probably because I almost lost my life that night. Such memories stick with you like bad odor on a hot African day.


	2. Chapter 2

It was meant to be an easy heist, orchestrated by a suave African with the dubious name of Chico. I was only 15 then, but this was my first introduction to what would turn out to be a long line of mistakes and crimes.

I had grown tired of following the nun's goodie two shoe ways and I needed some other challenge. Every kid at some point has a rebellious streak in them or so I like to tell myself. Mine had been pent up for so long; I needed a way to break free from the constraints of the authority figures in my life. I ventured farther and farther from their straight laced ways until I started moving with the more dubious members of our society.

Chico I had seen around school. He was the older kid that hung around, who no one saw in class but somehow knew he belonged. He had a thick accent and was quite lousy, but he wore the finest clothes and the hottest women in school hung around him. Frey hated him and always warned me about hanging around such people, but I was too stubborn to heed her call. I wanted the things he had, he led the glamorous life that had escaped me for so long.

Chico took a liking to me and enticed me with the shiny things he had. Soon we struck up a friendship which was probably the worst decision I could have made back then. Young, impatient and stupid, how could I not have expected the union to be a disaster?

Anyways, Chico somehow convinced me to come along on one of his 'shopping trips'. He convinced me nothing could go wrong and would give me half of the spoils. I was reluctant at first, I still had some reservations about the type of life I was about to live. I didn't want to hurt Frey or the nuns, but I also realized whatever I made could make a difference in our lives. We were struggling to keep the orphanage afloat, and many of the older kids like me had gone to find jobs to lessen the burden on the nuns.

According to Chico, this was a quick 'in n out' job. We would break into a spare parts shop, disable the alarms system, and make off with a bunch of parts that we would sell elsewhere. He promised no harm would befall either of us. I bought into it hook line and sinker.

Any crook worth his ilk would tell you, the last thing you want in this type of work is naivety, I was about to find this out the hard way.

The shop was located atop a hillside in a neighborhood that looked like it was once an industrial powerhouse. Abandoned warehouses and factories were strewn all around. Evidence of a period where this section of the city saw thousands daily, doing their part in powering the economy.

Now it'd be lucky if it saw 50 people a week. I must admit, I felt guilty as we approached the shop. These folks were probably hard working people trying to make a living despite the economic turmoil surrounding them. We were about to go in and make things harder for them. This was no robin hood type situation, what we were doing was taken from the poor and making them poorer.

I shelved those thoughts quickly, justifying my actions by rationalizing that I'd be doing some good with whatever money I made from the heist. At such a young age I was already good at creating excuses that made me overlook my mishaps.


	3. Chapter 3

It was a moonless night. An ink black color enveloped the sky, perhaps a sign to aid us in the events that were about to unfurl.

Chico drove his old Eclipse, a car that had seen better days, yet responded to his touch like some old trusty companion. It was him, a friend of his and me in the car. We all wore dark clothes, doing our best not to draw any attention to ourselves. With how dark it was, that part of the plan was covered to perfection.

We parked some ways off from the shop but not too far enough to make getting away tough. Chico's friend apparently had enhanced vision surgery and zooming in on the shop would be no problem for him. If anyone showed up, he was to contact Chico immediately. We were to go in, grab as much as we could in a matter of minutes and get out. Simple enough I thought, we'd be long gone before anyone knew the place had been burgled.

I should have known it was a cursed night when the car sputtered on the hill that lead up to the store. Cussing in a language I had never heard before, Chico was able to spur the car on, avoiding what could have been a very embarrassing moment. I do recall thinking to myself, what would happen if we were trying to get away and the car did the same. My nerves were probably on edge already, that would definitely have tipped them over.

Needless to say, we maneuvered into a side street, where Chico's friend immediately wrangled himself to the top of a nearby rooftop to act as lookout. Chico got out of his car and handed me a baseball bat. "Don't hesitate to use it if things get hairy."

I nodded, hoping that wouldn't be the case.

It was a short walk to the store, sticking to the shadows to avoid being spotted. Wouldn't have mattered though, the area was desolate, there was no sign of life around. There were tons of beat down cars, probably salvaged to create spare parts of some kind. It wouldn't have surprised me if a lot of them were stolen, but since I had no way of confirming that, I can only speculate.

The entrance to the store was heavily fortified with some type of wrought iron gate. We'd need some type of specialized saw to cut through those. Either that or chuck a bomb at it and hope it did the job. There was a key code panel by the side but judging from the way Chico was surveying the building, it was clear he didn't have the tools to break in.

He walked around the building, I followed. He kept 'hmmming' as he studied the schematics, and after going round the building once he stopped.

"Chali," he drawled in that thick accent of his, "it seems you will have to climb in the window and let me in from the inside."

I didn't think anything of his suggestion. I was probably more nimble than he was and would rather go through that hassle than calling attention by fiddling with the key code access at the front.

Carefully, I walked to the side where Chico pointed upwards. Indeed there was a window opened slightly, but I would need some help getting up there. He squatted and put his palms together. I stepped on them, instantly hearing a groan, but I was too focused on the task at hand to pay much attention. Chico hoisted me up, I latching onto the ledge immediately. I looked up and saw that with a slight push I could get the window to open upwards. It took some effort but I got it done. I lifted myself up and clambered onto the ledge. I didn't know what was waiting for me below. It was too dark in the building. The last thing I wanted was a broken foot.

"Watchu waiting for?" I heard Chico say from below. I had no choice but to jump in, hoping I didn't regret it.

I landed with a thud and looked around immediately. My eyes took a moment or two to adjust to the darkness. There had to be a light switch somewhere. I had only gone a few feet when I heard a menacing growl. I froze on the spot, hoping my mind was playing tricks on me.


End file.
